An example of a control technique of determining that an image forming process of forming an image on a sheet by an image forming apparatus is completed and stopping operation of an image forming section is disclosed in JP-A-2002-156884. In JP-A-2002-156884, a technique is disclosed in which if a next image forming operation is prepared before a predetermined time has elapsed from an end of the image forming operation, the next image forming operation is performed, while if a resource necessary for the image forming operation is not available even though the predetermined time has elapsed from the end of the image forming operation, cleaning (quality assurance operation) is performed.
However, in the technique disclosed in JP-A-2002-156884, in a case where a user needs to set the sheet in a sheet feeding section prior to the image forming operation, the supply of the sheet to the image forming section may be delayed, as compared with the image forming operation in which the user does not need to set the sheet in the sheet feeding section. In this instance, if the predetermined time for determining whether or not to proceed to the cleaning is short, the quality assurance operation, such as cleaning, is performed, even though the user wants to set the sheet in the sheet feeding section and then perform the image forming operation. Therefore, productivity may be decreased.